|
|
 |
|
Thank You From Coach Scott!
July 29, 2010
Our season is over and another is beginning and the little time in between I thought about many things both good and bad. While I will keep the bad to myself I wanted to take a minute to thank all the Thunder parents, players, siblings, grandparents, friends, and fans for another great year of softball.
While every team has their ups and downs on the field there are also times that we have our ups and downs off the field. Just as we ask our players to learn from their mistakes on the field we must also learn from our mistakes off the field. While we will never be perfect at either I want to say thanks to everyone for supporting your team and the Thunder Organization through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I would also like to take the time to apologize for my mistakes through the course of the year. Each year has been a new learning lesson for me because of the growth of the organization. We have doubled in size the past three years and each year has brought on new challenges but with much reward in the end. Thank you all for your patience through this process and for your continued support and loyalty.
Thunder was created to give more kids more opportunities to learn the game and the opportunity to train. That is our mission and our purpose and that will continue to be our focus in the future. It is not necessarily about the wins and the losses it is about the kids and giving them an opportunity to train to become an elite player and play at the highest level. Thank you all very much for allowing us this opportunity this season and I hope you will continue to allow Thunder to help your child become a better athlete.
Thunder would not be possible without the Thunder parents. Your sacrifices throughout the year are what really makes this possible. We basically turn our lives over to softball for the majority of the calendar year. We miss birthday parties, family reunions, weddings, family vacations, etc... so I want to thank you all for those sacrifices for your child and our Thunder Family. Special thanks to Delbert Kesterson and Allen Lancaster for keeping the field mowed all year every year. Special thanks to Debbie Oliver for her hard work with Thunder Gear and everything I have ever asked from her. Special thanks to Mary Little for being our treasurer and doing an outstanding thankless job. Special thanks to all of our team moms and dads that helped with the communication, dugouts, cook outs, fund-raisers, etc... And, as always thanks to the Bryant's for making all of this possible in the first place.
Our Thunder coaches are the life of our family. Without them we could not perform on the weekends at the level we are trying to play. In my humble opinion they did a very good job this season and we all owe them a big thank you for taking the things that we learn in practice and helping the girls execute those things in the games. Thank you all (coaches) very much for your volunteer time, support, dedication, and loyalty.
Now I must thank the players. Wow! You are the reason I do what I do. You are the reason I live this crazy life I live. You are the reason God put me here and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to help so many kids become better athletes and hopefully better people in the future. You are the ones making the sacrifices and putting in the work to be the best you can be. You are the ones giving me every ounce of effort and sacrificing your life for Thunder. You are the reason I lay my head down at night and thank the Lord that you are a part of my life.
It gives me a tremendous amount of peace within myself to see these kids come into Thunder not knowing or understanding the game and in the end they are some of the best we have in the State and some in the World. Kids come in and they cannot catch, throw, and are scared to hit and to stay in front of a ground ball. In the end they are making diving catches and giving grunts to 1st base for the out and hitting bombs to the outfield and daring a fielder to take away the corner of the bag as they round the bag. They are delay stealing and reading defenses. They are hitting from the left side and the right side. While we may not always win we will always train to win and I thank you all so much for giving me that opportunity!
Love you all,
Coach Scott Knight
Who Is Thunder?
The Thunder Softball Family is a group of parents, players, and coaches that are dedicated to our TEAM, our softball FAMILY, and to the game of fastpitch softball. We currently have 110 members and our goal is to teach them the fundamentals of the game and ensure their abilities to play it at the highest level.
Where Are We From?
We now have our very own facility in Benton, Arkansas. Our Thunder girls and their families are from Alexander, Atkins, Bauxite, Benton, Bismarck, Bryant, East End/Landmark, El Dorado, Hot Springs, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Mabelvale, Perryville, Pine Bluff, Redfield, Sardis, Sheridan, and White Hall. Some of our girls drive a long way to practice. We ensure the skills they learn are well worth the time, effort, and cost they put into it.
How Old Are We?
Thunder Girls currently range in ages from 7-14.
Why Do We Do It?
Because we love to practice, we love to play, we love our TEAM, and we love this organization!
What We Want From You?
Our girls would love to hear from you! Please feel free to check our news pages and photo albums for each team. We also welcome you to sign our guestbook.
THUNDER NEWS
Thunder "Skills and Drills" Start July 26th
Thunder "Skills and Drills" practices will begin next week, July 26th, at Thunder Field in Benton. These skills and drills are open for the public for $10 per player per practice so feel free to join us if you would like for your child to come and practice with us. No appointment is necessary just bring your glove, bat, and a desire to get better. We highly recommend all players wear a protective "game face" mask when playing defense.
Here are the practice times for each age group:
Monday and Friday - 5:30-8:30 - 8 and Under
Tuesday and Thursday - 5:30-8:30 - 10 and Under
Wednesday and Sunday - 5:30-8:30 - 12 and 14 Under
Sunday 3:00-5:00 - 6 and Under
From Little Rock, take the Congo Road exit and stay on the access road for about 1/4 mile and you will see Relax Inn on your right. Just past Relax Inn take a right on Odessa Drive and you will see our field on your left.
Thunder World Series Titles and Runner-Ups
2010 - USSSA 9u "A" Class World Series Champions - Thunder 2000 Black
2009 - USSSA 8u "A" Class World Series Champions - Thunder 2000 Black
2009 - USSSA 8u "A" Class World Series Runner-Ups - Thunder 2000 Blue
2009 - ASA 8u "A" Class National Champions - Thunder 2000 Black
2009 - ASA 8u "A" Class Nationals Runner-Ups - Thunder 2000 Blue
2008 - USSSA 8u "A" Class World Series Champions - Thunder 99
2008 - ASA 8u "A" Class National Champions - Thunder 99
Thunder State Titles and Runner-Ups
2010 - USSSA 8u "A" State Runner Ups - Thunder 2001
2010 - USFA 8u "A" State Runner Ups - Thunder 2001
2010 - ASA 10u "A" Fall State Champions - Thunder 99 Black
2010 - USSSA 10u "A" Fall State Runner-Ups - Thunder 99 Black
2010 - USFA 10u "A" State Champions - Thunder 99 Black
2010 - USSSA 10u "A" State Champions - Thunder 99 Black
2010 - USFA 10u "A" State Runner-Ups - Thunder 99 Blue
2010 - USSSA 10u "C" State Champions - Thunder 2000 Black
2010 - USSSA 10u "C" State Runner-Ups - Thunder 2000 Blue
2010 - USFA 14u "A" State State Champions - Vertigo
2010 - USFA 16u "A" Fall State Champions - Vertigo (14u)
2010 - ASA 14u "A" Fall State Runner-Ups - Vertigo
2009 - USSSA 8U "A" State Champions - Thunder 2000 Black
2009 - USSSA 8u "A" State Runner-Ups - Thunder 2000 Blue
2009 - ASA 8u "A" State Runner-Ups - Thunder 2000 Black
2009 - ASA 14u "B" State Champions - Thunder 97
2008 - ASA 8U "A" Fall State Champions - Thunder 99
2008 - USSSA 8u "A" Fall State Champions - Thunder 99
2008 - USSSA 8u "A" State Champions - Thunder 99
2008 - ASA 8u "A" State Champions - Thunder 99
Are You A Team Player?
Coach Scott Knight recently took a trip to Nashville, TN for a coaches clinic. One of the speakers at the clinic was Alabama Head Coach Patrick Murphy. During his presentation he showed our class a video about one of his All Americans and it really brought chills to most in the class and now we want to share it with our Thunder friends and fans. Hope you enjoy and special thanks to Coach Murphy for sharing with us.
After Coach Murphy showed this clip to the class of coaches we all wanted a copy to show our team. Special thanks to the brave coach in the back of the room to ask for this copy but also thanks to Coach Murphy for sharing it.
What we can take from this video is that every person on the team is important in order for our team to be successful. "Know your role and do your job" is our motto and this video is a perfect example of teamwork and how coaches make decisions for the team and not for the individual. Sometimes those decisions do not work the way we plan and the coach normally gets the blame but it worked for Coach Murphy on this day and he looked like the hero. The true hero is the All-American that stood by her teammate and possibly made the difference in the outcome. Very touching video, Roll Tide!
Thunder Family Slide Show On The I phone!
Thunder Player Development Page!
Attention Thunder parents and players. We have worked very hard to create a link on this site to give our Thunder coaches, players, and parents an advantage on and off the field this upcoming season. Please take a minute to browse the "Player Development" tab on the left of this site. We have updated it with lots of good information, videos,coaches materials, and links to sites that can help make us all better. The page is password protected for our members but you should all have the password.
Thunder Life Lessons Page Added!
Thunder parents, players, and fans please take a minute to visit our Life Lessons page on this website. Great videos and articles that will get you motivated and excited about everything you do in life.
Prayer Request Available On Thunder Site!
From time to time we get letters from Thunder families, friends, and fans asking for their prayers. We are sure that most people reading this site gets prayer request from their friends and family.
We will now post any prayer request on the Thunder site so more people can help us during troubled times. You will see a tab to the left on the home page of this site and we encourage you to visit it daily so we can all help each other through the grace of God.
If you would like to ask for a prayer request to be posted on our site please email it to Coach Scott Knight and it will be posted within 24 hours.
God Bless You All!
|
|
